Is it alright to use lowercase "i" or should you always use "I" (uppercase)? [closed]

Question

I frequently edit questions on StackOverflow, and I always fix the "i" into "I".
See this edit revision for instance.

When i I start my tomcat, i I am getting this problem.
How could i I resolve this problem.

Am I right to do so?

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Benjol points out an interesting thread illustrating that debate:

• the MetaSO question "Can users please refrain from making minor edits to a question I post?" (and its edits):

The point of text on a site like this is to communicate.
Why do you want to make it harder to communicate than it has to be?
You may like writing with no capitalization, but I think it's pretty clear that people prefer reading with capitalization.
If you don't care about making life easier for those trying to help you, why do you think anyone will bother helping you in the first place?

• The article "Capitalize, please" also refers to norms.

Readers of the modern English language have grown accustomed to certain norms. Paragraphs, for one. Punctuation. Consistent spelling. And, of course, capitalization.

Answer 1

It is the standard orthography of English to capitalize the first person singular pronoun, as well as in contractions like I'm or I'll. This is not a universal property of written language, though—far from it.

Apparently the capitalization of I comes from England sometime before the time of Chaucer. The typographists of the day dictated this change; they thought that i (after being truncated from something more German-like "ich") was simply too small to stand on its own and bear so much meaning. Just goes to show how much of a technology writing really is.

Answer 2

The orthography is what the orthography is, and while there are many variations allowed in certain aspects, no serious authority supports abandoning the distinction between upper and lower case. So unless you are sticking with a rebellious all-lower case spelling, a lower case "i" is always wrong.

Answer 3

If you're looking for justification outside of a dictionary, there are countless style guidelines that will address the issue -- you'd think. I can't find much, at least not online.

"Me, Myself and I" -- New York Times article on this very question. (It comes to the same conclusion -- there's no real grammatical reason for capitalizing "I" aside from typography.)

Answer 4

Well, it really depends on what you are writing. If you are writing something formal, or if you think your audience will care, then sure. If you are texting or IMing, or being much more casual, then it's really up to you whether you want to bother or not. Capitalization, like most orthography, is just a matter of convention.

Answer 5

The first-person pronoun should always be capitalized in English. Whether it is appropriate to correct others' mistakes in this regard is a question of etiquette, not grammar. :-)

Answer 6

As everyone has said, and which I don't want to downplay, this is not acceptable in any formal writing, or even informal writing which is "public."

However, it's pretty common in electronic, informal, private writings, such as text messages, (non-work-related) e-mails, and online chats not to capitalize anything at all. (Principally the point is that holding the shift key is annoying.) Emphasis on electronic. It would be weird and pretentious-looking in anything you wrote by hand, even something informal, even just a casual note to a friend.

Answer 7

My English teacher taught that as with any first letter of the first word of any sentence, "I" too is capitalized, and its contraction "I'll" the same. However, inside the sentence lower-case is acceptable. EX: (A) "I'll see you at 6pm." (B) "John, while you're getting the BBQ ready, i'll go for a jog in the park." This applies to "i'm" and "myself" which are only capitalized when they're the first word of a sentence.